In The Dark
by Texas
Summary: H/D Screenplay - Their camps have made war, but in the midst of it all, an unlikely saviour is found.
1. In The Dark part one

  
IN THE DARK [_part one_]  
Harry\Draco. PG.   
By Texas   
[It is quiet, peaceful. The sun appears haltingly between cumulus clouds. In the distance, the white clouds turn to dingy gray. Dew glimmers on untrampled grass. Focus on a hill, balding at the top with a dirt path zigzagging down the side. Two camps are set up in sight of this hill on opposite sides, one of _DEATHEATERS_ and one of the _ORDER OF THE PHOENIX_. Overview, then gradual fade/zoom to _DRACO MALFOY_, digging in soft earth with a battered wand, in the shade of an oak.] 

**DRACO MALFOY**  
(humming to self during busy work of digging with wand) When the cold of winter comes, starless night will cover day. In the veiling of the sun, we will walk in bitter rain. But in dreams I can hear your name. But in dreams, we will meet again.  
[a very sinister _LUCIUS MALFOY_ emerges from what was seemingly only shadow, stands in peripheral vision of viewer.] 

**DRACO MALFOY**  
(failing to notice _LUCIUS_) When the seas and mountains fall, and we come to end of days. In the dark I hear a call. Calling me there, I will go there and back again.  
[_LUCIUS MALFOY_ steps into _DRACO_'s view, shuffling dirt into the primitive scratching. _DRACO_ goes still, but does not raise his eyes to look upon his father.] 

**LUCIUS MALFOY**  
I certainly hope we raised you to use your wand for better purposes than digging, boy. Are these the brilliant plans we brought you along for? Let's see here... [_LUCIUS_ crouches down, careful to keep his cloak clean. He sneers.] 'I love H.J.P.'? I thought we cured you of this long ago. No? Perhaps another treatment will aid you.  
[A curse is murmured and _DRACO_ seems to throw himself backwards in agony, twitching unnaturally. The painful contortions seem to delight _LUCIUS_.] 

**DRACO MALFOY**  
(screams) HARRY!  
[_LUCIUS_, unsettled, drops the curse and vanishes without a word. _DRACO_ trembles on the ground, dirt in his pale hair and blood dribbling down his chin.]

  
  
[Camera pans from _DRACO_ to momentary focus on the balding hill top to _HARRY POTTER_, sitting up suddenly from what might have been a nap.] 

**HARRY POTTER**  
(turns to _RON WEASLEY_, who has been keeping watch over a recently sleeping _HARRY_) Did you hear that? 

** RON WEASLEY**  
Hear what? (Cocks his head to one side) It was probably nothing, Harry. A bird, or a tree. 

** HARRY POTTER**  
There haven't been birds for weeks. This is a dead forest. No... It was something else. I heard my name. 

** RON WEASLEY**  
You were sleeping. It may have been the last thing you remember from a dream. 

** HARRY POTTER**  
Or a nightmare. 

[_FLASHBACK_: Screen goes fuzzy. Fog clears as camera centers on two years younger _DRACO MALFOY_ and _HARRY POTTER_, in an empty Great Hall at _HOGWARTS_. It seems to be late winter/early spring]

** DRACO MALFOY**  
...and they're going to give me the Mark, Harry. Voldemort will draft me, or Lucius will force me. I can't stop this from happening; you know that. I must go with it. 

** HARRY POTTER**  
Draco, you're stronger than that. Don't pretend you're not. We can just go to Dumbledore and - 

** DRACO MALFOY**  
No, Harry. Things do not work for me like they do for you. I am not the savior of the wizarding world, I am not an orphan or part of the holy trinity. I am beyond Dumbledore's aid. I will not go in there and beg for help only for no avail. 

** HARRY POTTER**  
Your pride is going to be the death of you, Draco! 

** DRACO MALFOY**  
Then at least I will die with dignity, Potter. 

** HARRY POTTER**  
(recoils at the use of his surname) So be it. If you refuse my help, then I cannot give it to you. 

** DRACO MALFOY**  
(sighing) I didn't refuse YOUR help, Potter. I refused Dumbledore's. Unless, of course, you can't do it on your own. 

** HARRY POTTER**  
I am not offering you MY help, Malfoy. I'm offering you the shelter of the Order. But you are too high and mighty for it, it seems. No, I will not help you. Take the Mark and keep your selfish pride, or suffer a little humility and be safe within the Order. That is your choice. 

** DRACO MALFOY**  
(turns away from _HARRY_, crestfallen) Then that is how it's going to be? 

** HARRY POTTER**  
That's how it is. Draco, please, I won't beg but I'll ask you again to consider the Order. There is no shame in it. 

** DRACO MALFOY**  
There is plenty of shame in it! I will not hide in the hallways of Hogwarts waiting for an absolution! That is not my way, and you cannot ask it of me. 

** HARRY POTTER**  
Then what did you want, Draco? What did you want me to do? Kill Voldemort for you? Put your father in Azkaban and let it be said that you did not cower to the Order, that you fought your enemies with me? I won't be your hero, Draco. I'm not anybody's hero. 

** DRACO MALFOY**  
Then I will take the Mark. One day, when this is all over, we may find each other in the dark, where there are no sides. Leave me be, Potter. Your presence is an insult.   
[_FLASHBACK_ fades out, returns to tent with _HARRY_ and _RON_] 

** RON WEASLEY**  
Harry? 

** HARRY POTTER**  
(visibly shaken) Sorry. Just... an old memory. 

** RON WEASLEY**  
We couldn't help him, Harry. You know that. Who knows where he is now? 

** HARRY POTTER**  
I know. I just.. need some sleep, I guess. 

** RON WEASLEY**  
(skeptical) Alright, Harry. Get some rest.   
  
[_SEGWAY_ to _RON_ talking with _HERMIONE GRANGER_, _REMUS LUPIN_, _FRED WEASLEY_, and two or three wizards of lesser significance]  
  


** RON WEASLEY**  
I want a track on Draco Malfoy. 

** HERMIONE GRANGER**  
Ron, we've tried. At this point, it's useless and dangerous. No one has heard from him since the destruction of Malfoy Manor. 

** RON WEASLEY**  
(pounds fist on makeshift table, jarring several pewter mugs and sending quills rolling) It is NOT useless. This is the third night in a row that Harry has murmured his name in his sleep. Draco Malfoy could bust this war right open and I refuse to let that chance slip. I want a small detail assembled tonight with plans for tracking. 

** REMUS LUPIN**  
Ron, let's not get hasty. Just because Harry dreams about him... I mean we all know that they were... In the last year at Hogwarts, they became... Ron, everyone knows they were intimate in their fifth year. Let's not mistake wet dreams for prophecies. 

** FRED WEASLEY**  
Harry doesn't dream. He has nightmares. The last time he said someone's name... (_FRED_ glances at an empty chair at their table, one where no one ever sits.)   
[The table is somber, acknowledging reverence. Brief _FLASHBACK_ to _HARRY_ calling out for _DUMBLEDORE_ in a deep slumber. End _FLASHBACK_, refocus on _EMPTY CHAIR_.] 

** RON WEASLEY**  
There will be a detail. Draco Malfoy is important to our cause. No victory was ever attained without danger. Look for volunteers, then start picking. I want four wizards proficient in Defense Against The Dark Arts and stealth. 

** HERMIONE GRANGER**  
But who will lead them? 

** RON WEASLEY**  
I will. 

  
  
  



	2. In The Dark part two

  
IN THE DARK [_part one_]  
Harry\Draco. PG.   
By Texas   
[**_BLACKOUT_**. Picture returns as a ritualistic meeting around a campfire which can only belong to _DEATHEATERS_] 

** LORD VOLDEMORT**  
[his back is to the flames and the _INNER CIRCLE_ present] Your son, Lucius, is going to be a problem. 

** LUCIUS MALFOY**  
My lord, I- 

** LORD VOLDEMORT**  
Silence. I didn't ask for excuses or half-witted ideas from a simpering idiot. Draco Malfoy may bear the Dark Mark of allegiance, but he is no more of a follower than Severus Snape. 

[Several hisses are evoked at the sound of _SEVERUS SNAPE_'s name. _LORD VOLDEMORT_ waits before continuing.] 

** LORD VOLDEMORT**  
However. Despite his lack of devotion to our side, he will still prove useful. If Draco is friends with Harry Potter (_VOLDEMORT_ takes this moment to sneer), then Harry will eventually come for him. And when he does... 

[The fire explodes in a fury of sparks and flame, catching on some _DEATHEATER_'s robes. _VOLDEMORT_ watches with grim amusement. Cheering is heard at the violent display.]   
[**_BLACKOUT_**. Picture returns in the _ORDER OF PHOENIX_ camp, focused on _HERMIONE GRANGER _and _FRED WEASLEY_.] 

** HERMIONE GRANGER**  
I'm not sure this is such a good idea, Fred. We can't talk him out of going – you know how Ron is. But there has to be some other way. 

** FRED WEASLEY**  
Hermione, Ron's my brother, and I don't want him to go anymore than you do. I've already lost Percy and (_FRED_'s voice breaks) George. Watching him die was like seeing myself hit the ground. I can't stand to lose another brother to this Goddamn war. But Ron is stubborn, and the more we try and talk him out of it, the more he'll go. All we can do is keep him safe. 

** HERMIONE GRANGER**  
Safe would be not letting him go! 

** FRED WEASLEY**  
Safe would be me going with him. 

** HERMIONE GRANGER**  
Fred, you can't! 

** FRED WEASLEY**  
I can. I'm going. I can't just let my little brother go out there like that. We all know he's hopeless at DADA and sneaking around. I'm the last half of the Weasley Duo, the next best thing to a Marauder. 

** HERMIONE GRANGER**  
Ron won't let you go with him, Fred. 

** FRED WEASLEY**  
He won't know that I'm going.   
  
[_**PICTURE CHANGES**_ to focus on _HARRY POTTER_, leaning over a table shabbily constructed in his tent.] 

** HARRY POTTER**  
[mumbling to himself while staring at a faded map] It's not possible for us to go around the hill on this side… or this side… which leaves us with… 

[**_CLOSEUP_** of the _MAP_. **_PAN_** to _HARRY POTTER_ standing in the doorway to his tent, staring out at the _HILLTOP_.] 

** HARRY POTTER**  
If we have the upper ground, we'll be at an advantage. But how do we get up there without opening ourselves up to long distance assault? We'd be sitting ducks up there… 

** REMUS LUPIN**  
The hilltop does have it's disadvantages. Something I thought we should consider, Harry... 

** HARRY POTTER**  
[turns to face _REMUS_] Yes? 

** REMUS LUPIN**  
Tomorrow is All Hallows Eve. And a full moon. 

** HARRY POTTER**  
Yes of course. The enhanced magical ability might help us out a bit, but a full moon Remus? They'd see us a mile away. 

** REMUS LUPIN**  
I was referring more to my… non-voluntary Animagus form. 

** HARRY POTTER**  
Oh.. Ohhh…[realization dawns on _HARRY_'s war-weary face] What are you suggesting, Remus? 

** REMUS LUPIN**  
Perhaps a distraction would allow you to take the hill. Maybe one of your father's old possessions would help you? 

[_BOTH_ look over at a battered trunk at the foot of _HARRY_'s cot.]   
[**_BLACKOUT_**. A weak light starts to glow somewhere near the center of the screen. _RON_'s face appears in the meager light of a poorly cast 'Lumos'] 

** RON WEASLEY**  
[hovering over a _DIARY_. Closer inspection reveals it to be _HARRY_'s]. Father, it has been many years since the first time I saw Draco Malfoy on a stool at Madame Malkins…   
  
[**_CAMERA_** flashes images of Malkin's, and continues in **_FLASHBACK_** mode] 

** RON WEASLEY [ _V.O._]**  
_The years have been good to him. Very good. I catch myself staring in class, costing us House points left and right. I'm sure you remember Lucius Malfoy, and know him to be a DeathEater. But Draco is nothing like him! Yesterday, he looked at me at breakfast, all the way across the Great Hall. Like a tug on my mind, I knew that he was looking, and looked up to catch his eye. And he winked. I can't explain to you what that does to me. I only hope that he is not playing with me, that he doesn't think he's going to bag the Boy Who Lived. _   
  
[_RON_ pauses, then turns a page.] 

** RON WEASLEY [_V.O._]**  
_Father, I am writing this to you in the bleak light of the dungeons. The Slytherin dungeons. Draco is sleeping beside me, in his bed. I'm in his bed. I don't want to leave his bed. He loves me, Dad. All the teasing, the plotting, the small hexes that he threw at me all those years was his way of showing that he had a little school boy crush. It scares me to think that I love him back. Professor Dumbledore (who tells me to call him Albus now, but I can't bring myself to do it) is organizing the Order of the Phoenix, a strong council built to destroy Voldemort and his evil empire. I feel guilty keeping this secret from Draco, but because of who his father is, I cannot tell him. He would never intentionally let out our secret, but he isn't strong enough to resist torture, to resist Imperio like I can. I worry that this war will split us apart. Even though he isn't a Death Eater, he will have no choice other than to go to his father, the monster. Professor Dumbledore cannot do anything about it. If he leaves, it will break my heart._   
  
[**_PICTURES CHANGE_** to show the camps at midnight, some sleeping, some plotting. Image appears to be quite old. _ORDER OF THE PHOENIX_ is quiet and distraught, sobbing onto one another's shoulders.] 

** RON WEASLEY [_V.O._]**  
_Father, Albus Dumbledore died today. He died at the hands of Peter Pettigrew, the man that betrayed you. We lost two Weasleys in the same battle. Percy and George were in a rage at the fall of Dumbledore and they launched themselves against Pettigrew, who has the upper hand, so to speak, with a magical hand Voldemort bestowed upon him that allows him to perform wandless magic. Such a monster does not deserve such a gift. Pettigrew died, I can say, at the hands of George Weasley. You would have been proud to know George, he was like a Marauder. Percy failed to realize that people do not play by the book out here – the Death Eaters have no wizarding honor, a bizarre trait of a group supposed to be the elite purebloods. George was brilliant. Pettigrew snapped his wand and George thrust the broken stub right through Pettigrew's neck. To be close enough to do that, however… I wept openly on the battlefield, surrounded by the dead men who had offered their lives to keep me alive. Again. Will I ever be in a place without suffering? The Death Eaters have Draco now, and with him, his special abilities. I only hope that we can get him back… we need him. I need him. I love him._   
  
[_RON_ flips through the pages of the book, but the rest are blank. _RON_ casts the book aside.] 

** RON WEASLEY**  
Damnit, Harry, what is his ability?!   
  
[_HERMIONE_ appears in the entrance way to the tent.] 

** HERMIONE GRANGER**  
Ron… They've found you a team. 

** RON WEASLEY**  
[climbs to his feet] That's good. I guess I better get going. Have to brief them and then, you know… Leave. 

** HERMIONE GRANGER**  
[voice cracks] Ron, please don't. Just wait and we'll all do battle on the field. Please… 

** RON WEASLEY**  
[holds _HERMIONE_ close to him] Sweet, sweet 'Mione… I don't want us to do battle on the field. If we just go now, we can avoid the whole thing. You must understand. 

** HERMIONE GRANGER**  
I know, I understand. But you better come back. 

** RON WEASLEY**  
Of course I will. 

** HERMIONE GRANGER**  
[sniffs] I love you, Ron. I couldn't stand it if you didn't come back for me. 

** [_RON_ embraces _HERMIONE_ as the picture fades to reveal _FRED_, outside the tent pointing a wand at his face.] **

** FRED WEASLEY**  
Visagus Modifa. [_FRED_'s face morphs into the face of another wizard.] You will come back, little brother. Even if it means my life.   



End file.
